Religion and Politics

Through much of Guyana's history, the Anglican and Roman Catholic
churches helped maintain the social and political status quo. The Roman
Catholic Church and its newspaper, the Catholic Standard, were
vocal opponents of the ideology of the People's Progressive Party (PPP)
in the 1950s and became closely associated with the conservative United
Force. However, in the late 1960s the Roman Catholic Church changed its
stance toward social and political issues, and the Catholic Standard
became more critical of the government. Subsequently, the government
forced a number of foreign Roman Catholic priests to leave the country.
By the mid-1970s, the Anglicans and other Protestant denominations had
joined in the criticisms of government abuse. The Anglican and Roman
Catholic churches also worked together, unsuccessfully, to oppose the
government's assumption of control of church schools in 1976.

The Guyana Council of Churches was the umbrella organization for
sixteen major Christian denominations. Historically, it had been
dominated by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. The Guyana
Council of Churches became an increasingly vocal critic of the
government in the 1970s and 1980s, focusing international attention on
its shortcomings. The conflict between the government and the Guyana
Council of Churches came to a head in 1985, when members of the
PNC-influenced House of Israel physically prevented the council from
holding its annual meeting. Later that year, police searched the homes
of the major Christian church leaders. The PNC maintained the support of
a number of smaller Christian denominations, however.

In contrast to the most prominent Christian clergy, who maintained
connections with international denominations, Hindu and Muslim leaders
depended on strictly local support. For them, resistance to political
pressure was more difficult. In the 1970s, the PNC succeeded in
splitting many of the important Hindu and Muslim organizations into
pro-PNC and pro-PPP factions.